Collar



April 1, 1930.

R. HUNTER COLLAR Filed May 26', 1925 Patented Apr. 1, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE} I RALPH HUNTER, 01' NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO HALL, HARTWELL 80 CO. ING,

' OI TROY, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK conmua V Application filed May 26,1925. Serial No. 32,955.

The object of this invention is to construct I a fold-over shirt collar which, while having all of the merits of a fully starched collar, namely crisp, glossy and dressy appearance, polished and therefore sanitary, and dirtresisting surface, shall nevertheless be very flexible and comfortable to the wearer and (a very practical value) shall withstand a large-number of launderings withoutpracking at the fold line, which in fully starched collars is the most vulnerable oint.

In fold-over collars of stan ard construction, comprising a band made of'two plies or blanks of moderately fine cotton or linen cloth, with, usually, an interlining blank of more open weave, and a top or fold-over portion, similarly made of two assembled cloth-blanks, with; or without an interlinin blank, the edge of the collar top is inserte between edge-turned plies of the band, and then stitched in place. When the collar is starched and ironed, the fold of the top is in the collar top close to and parallel with the line of junction of top and band. As it is along this fold line that collar fabricvis ruptured after a few launderings, greater durability of the collar as a whole will be secured if the collar top be so constructed that its outer fabric will not be subjected to the i stresses, localized at the fold line, which 'produce fracture in fully starched collars as heretofore constructed. I

The fold of the collar top, produced when the. starched collar is ironed, and as the starch material in it is heated or baked into solidity by the iron, involves tensile stress on the outer ply, and compressive stress on the inner ply. When, as has been the case in fully starched collars, the inner ply is saturated withstarch to the extent usual in laundry operations and this is baked into substantial solidity, it resists compression at the fold and thus enhances the tensile stress in theouter ply, which, also carryin afull normal load of starch, subje'cts the in 'vidual yarns and their fibres to aggravated local tensile stresses, which after a few laundering operations result in fracture of the outer ply-{along the fold line.

' y improved collar is characterized by a fold-over or top portion inwhich the outer ply is composed of a sing1e-weave fabric so densely woven that its maximum starchabsorption capacity is substantially less than that of fabrics ordinarly used for the same purpose and in the same part of a collar. The inner ply" may be, .butis not necessarily, made of fabric equally resistant to starch absorption; The quality of starch-exclusion or absorption-resistance, of the outer ply, ,not 60 only reduces .thepercentage of starch that will be absorbed into that ply, but to a substantial extent reduces the percentage of starch absorbed by the inner ply, which on its side adjacent to the outerply is guarded I v against intrusion of starch. Thus the inner ply of the collar top is softer and more yieldmg than as in starched collars as heretofore manufactured.

hen, therefore, a collar provided with a 7 top portionconstructed as above described, is ironed after having been immersed in the usual normal laundry solution of starch for the usual time and under the usual conditions of mechanical manipulation, the tensile stress 76 ing outer ply is made with an open fabric in- 55 terlining between the outer and inner plies.

' If a collar top be made with its outer and inner ply both of absorption-resistant fabric, they mutually protect each other, reduce the starch content .at and near their juxtaposed 9o surfaces, and provide the means, above described, for relievin the-outer ply of fibre and yarn strains at the fold line.

To provide a cotton fabric so inherently resistant to starchabsorption that it will receive and-retain. even after relaundering, as its usually and normally received starch content a percentage by weight materially less than that absorbable, and inevitably absorbed under similar normal laundry manipulation, by

til

ordinary collar fabrics, fine, long staple yarns are required. Preferably the warp yarns should be' single ply, the filling yarns two ply, hard twisted.

The preferred weave-specifications (having in view a presentable clothtexture) are 120 warp threads and Si filling threads to the inch, or thereabouts. Good results in practice have been obtained, however, by varying the relation of warp to filling, using 96 warps and 100 filling, per inch. In any case, and whatever the variations in pick and sley, the filling should be hard-beaten at the fell, so as to close the interstitial voids between yarns as completely as possible. The count, or diameter, of both warp and filling yarns, while subject to some variation and choice, will be such as to combine, in the woven cloth, the aforesaid characteristics of high pick and sle and close texture, in asingle weave cloth. bingle cloth, as distinguished from double or other compound weaves, provides the characteristic of that thinness which is essential to high flexibility.

In the drawings hereto annexed, which illustrate my invention,

Fig. 1 is a section of outer ply collar top cloth, taken across filling and parallel with warp; J

Fig. 2 is a section of the same, taken across warp and parallel with filling;

Fig. 3 is a section across warp and parallel with filling of cloth suitable for the inner ply of a collar top;

Fig. 4 is a section on a scale smaller than that of Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive, showing the relative weaves and thicknesses of outer ply and inner ply,

Fig. 5 1s a vertical cross section of a fold collar, taken on line 5--5 of Fig. 6; and

Fig. 6 is a plan view of a fold collar, opened or unfolded, exhibiting the outer plies of the collar to and collar band.

The e ect of high pick and sley, and close weave and hard beat at the fell is indicated in Figs. 1 and 2. Where warp W and fillings F cross, they crush into each other, reducing the capillary voids in the fabric to a minimum, leaving practically no channels for ready intrusion of liquid starch solution. To some extent a starch solution penetrates between fibres of each yarn, but only a little into fine and hard twisted yarn, so that this slight interfibre penetration and the indentations characteristic of the tooth of the fabric afford the only anchorage for a starch film.

When a ply of such cloth is laid against a ply of the same or other cloth the penetration of starch solution to the juxtaposed cloth surfaces is materially reduced.

For economy of manufacture a cheaper and less densely woven fabric may be used for the inner ply of the collar top, such as indicated in Fig. 3. For instance, cotton cloth 72 warp terially less than twent or standard specifications,

and '76 filling per inch will serve satisfactorilv.

It is highly desirable, if not duite essential, that the outer or face fabric of the collar top be a single and simple one and one weave, since this lends itself better than other weaves,

twills for instance, to the dense and uniform absorption-resisting structure.

The usual structural assemblage of collar top T and band Bis shown in Fig. 5. As indicated in Fig. 6, the flexibility of the collar as a whole may be enhanced by cutting sections of the outer ply of the collar band away, as at (Z. Since the collar band is never subjected to sharp folding, likethe collar top, it may be made of the usual qualities of fabric.

A collar top, made as above described, of 120 x 84 fabric in the outer ply and a fabric, plain'weave, 72 x 76, when saturated to its maximum absorbable content of starch, will absorb only about 14.5%

by weight, of starch. Under the same conditions of immersion and maximum, saturation the absorption-resistant outer ply cloth absorbs as its maximum content about 13.5% of starch, whereas the inner ply cloth, 72 x 7 6 will absorb about 25%. This illustrates the protective effect of the resistant outer ply material upon the more absorbent inner pl material, which manifeats itself in simi ar manner under conditions of normal and usual laundry treatment which does not involve saturation of collar cloth to its maximum receptivity for the starch solution.

A fold collar, constructed on specifications like the foregoin has under test withstood thirty-five laumlerings without cracking, whereas full-starched collars'as heretofore constructed all cracked in twelve launderings or less. The maximum asorbable. content of starch, in the above recommended outer ply top-fabric is not more than 40% of the maximum absorbable by standard outer ply top-fabrics heretofore used. A fabric capable of maximum absorption maper centum of its own weight of normal aundr starch solution, used in the outer ply of a fold-collar top produces under normal laundry treatment substantially the above. described results, even when assembled with a more absorptive inner ply.

.Moreover. a collar constructed as above described, though the band be of ordinary is highly flexible even when starched with the starch solution and under the treatment usually em loyed in laundries for finishing the standar fully starched collars, capable of being wound tightly around ones finger with no difficulty and with no injury to its finish or appear ance when released. It therefore supplies the prevalent demand for a soft-feeling and comfortable collar, while it responds to the demands of, the most fastidious wearer in I outer ply of single-ply weave of close texterially less than twent res t to dressy appearance. Unlike soft an semi-soft collars, it is light and smooth and agreeable to the touch, and has all the sanitary and soil-resisting pro erties of the full starched and polished co ar. It is, in trut a fully starched collar, since it receives and retainsall the starch it is capable of absorbing when treated with the normal starch solutlons and in the same manner as has been the practice in laundries generally for the collars universally termed full starched. At its surfacethere is present a the starch needed to receive as high a loss as any collar should a glossy laundry 'sh be desired.

I claim:

1. A fold-collar comprising an outer to ply of sin le-ply weave of close texture an capable 0 maximum absorption materially less than twenty er centum of its own weight of normal laun ry starch solution.

2. A fold-collar comprising in its top an ture and capable of maximum absorption m aper centum of its own weight of normal aundlg tion and an inner ply protecte by the outer ply against enetration of starch solution to the surface 3uxtaposed to said outer ply.

3. A fold-collar comprising in its top an outer (ply of singley weave of yarns crushe together in the mesh to reduce the interstitial voids in the fabric to such de-.

gree of resistance to starch absorption that the said ply is capable of maximum absorption materially less than twenty per centum of its own welght of normal laundry starch solution.

4. A fold-collar comprising in its top an outer e(ply of singley weave of yarns crush together in the mesh to reduce th interstitial voids in the fabric to such degrw of'resistance to starch absorption that the said pl is capable of maximum absorption materla ly less than twenty per centum of its own weight of normal laundry starch solution, and an inner ply of normally woven texture protected b said outer ply against 4 14th day of ay, 1925.

enetration of starc uxtaposed to said outer ply.

Signed b me at Troy, New York, this RALPH HUNTER.

starch solusolution to the surface 

